It was already Tuesday, after 10:00 a.m., and Lincoln still wasn’t at his desk.Where is he?
After he skipped work yesterday, I’d put all my hopes on him showing up today and being open to letting me talk. But he wasn’t here, and I was too afraid to message him on any medium.
I’d ambushed him. And in hindsight, ambushing someone who had told me, in more than one way, that he couldn’t handle surprises was probably not my finest moment.
He had wanted to get as far away from me as possible. For a man who was generally unreadable,hurthad been spelled across his pained expression.
My eyes prickled with tears while I struggled with the lump in my throat. I’d been through some awful things, but this… this was unbearable.
I knew why this was worse. I knew it the second I’d realized that he wasmyLink. It hurt because I’d fallen in love with him in a way I didn’t think was possible. I’d fallen in love with the same persontwice.
My email pinged. Lincoln Carden!
I scrambled to click it.
Elizabeth,
I should have let you know that I’m on-site already. Perhaps this project is too far out for you. I will arrange construction work for you on a site closer to the office.
If there’s an emergency on one of the other projects, take it up with Anders. If he’s not around, you can email me.
Regards,
L. Carden
I read it and reread it. He’d used my name. There was no reference to Lily. Had he cutheroff?
Despite how excited I was to be on that project, I was far more excited to be alone with him. To learn from him. To exist around him before and after working hours.
Was I supposed to reply?
A fresh wave of tears threatened, but I’d dehydrated my eyes after spending most of the weekend crying. It hadn’t been the meeting I’d hoped for. Far from it. I wanted him to be as happy as I was. I wanted to pick up where we left off in his office. Instead of pain, I had expected that warm, decadent brown gaze filled with unspoken, overwhelming passion. I hadn’t just imagined it. He’d felt it too. He’d kissed me…
But I’d been kissed before by men who wanted me and didn’t wantme. Elizabeth Gordon-Bettencourt.
Maybe Lily was who he actually wanted. He’d gone to meet Lily.
Maybe Elizabeth was what Elizabeth was to everyone else. Maybe Douglas was right.
A pretty face everyone will get bored of.
Maybe he kissed me because he found me attractive. Because I’d started the physical aspect of our relationship by flirting with him, practically throwing myself at him when I’d massaged him.
Douglas often reminded me how everyone only wanted to be around me because of who I was connected to, and once they realized I no longer had anything to offer them, they’d run. Up until now, I hadn’t wanted anyone to stay.
But this was different. I wanted Lincoln Carden. I wanted my Link. I needed him. He was kind, as handsome as could be, and smarter than anyone I’d ever met. Was there any reason he’d need me? Lose his management role because of me?
“Gordon-Bettencourt.” Mr. Anders walked into my office with a rolled-up drawing. He dropped it on my desk and sighed with the exhaustion of a man who’d lived a thousand lives.
I didn’t like the sound of that. At all.
“I used the correct color table and fonts, included the north arrow, and my design is sound,” I rambled off.
He pointed a finger at the edge of the road. “This is incorrect. Sidewalks aren’t part of the brief.”
“Oh.” I exhaled a shaky breath of relief. “I know… but I added it in case there was any wiggle room in the budget. Then the design would already be done.”
“Wiggle room in the budget?” A mirthless laugh escaped him. “You live in a different world, don’t you?”
